Authentic Mantle??? JSA??
 

I think this is a bad Mantle. A really bad Mantle.
What do you think?
It has a JSA cert and is on ebay now.
No gotcha here, just what do you think?

If it has a JSA cert.,it has to be real!

You obviously have a better eye than me, Shelly. I don't think it's all that bad. I see a couple of "off" things in it, but it just looks like a more unstable (and not perfectly spaced) signature. I do not know his inscription style though, so I'm not taking that into the equation at all.

I've been wrong before.

Often. ;)

I am no expert but the i in Mickey doesn't seem right, but, the rest looks ok so maybe he coughed or had a twitch.

I think it's the "I" that makes it look off. Other than that, including the inscription, I think it looks pretty good.

I just don't like the I pluse the spaceing and size of a to n the number five is wrong as well.
Attachment 102032

I'm thinking this is a legit Mantle but the crappy construction of the M and i in Mickey would keep me from wanting to spend any money on it...the inscription looks representative of what few 536 HR inscriptions I've seen, fwiw...

Looks somewhat sloppy, but real to me. If its a fake, there is a lot the forger got right and it's far superior to the typical fakes we see.

Looks 100% authentic to me

Definitely authentic.

The Mantle signature looks good to me, coa or not. N is right, y is right, speed is good, I think sometimes the thicker pen ones can be a little harder to tell though.

Shelly, Mantle had two different types of 5's that he used...one where the bottom loop comes up and then across (like your second one) and one like the first which is more traditional. Johnny Podres did the same thing with his inscription of 1955 often times.

I think this one might be real to!!! Now this is fugly. But he got it in person, the mick must have been drunk and stoned.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MICKEY-MANTL...item232bc3e05f

That one does look ugly.:eek:

It could have been signed when his liver was hurting.

You're kidding, right?

"The Record was signed at a baseball card show in the early 80's"

LOL

I had Mantle at a show where he could not even stand up. Not a single signiture had a hicup. I posted my thoughts. That is why this site is great. :) What made me feel it is not authentic is everyone is saying what is right about everything I think is wrong. To many things wrong with one signiture.:eek:

When did he change the way he signed his number? I have seen Mickey sign in front of me over 5 thousand times. I never saw and I like that or the small a to the n like that ever. I am sure because the consigner got it in person it is authentic. Like so many other items we have seen. I would not touch it and that is my thoughts right or wrong.
Like I said this is why where here.:) I will donate to anyone on this site a hundred dollars to any charity if they can show me another ball with an I pointed west. That is a ball that is authentic. I am really sorry but I just feel that this is not an item I would buy no matter who thought is was authentic.
If I had not said it was authenticated by God. How many of you would have said it is good and why? I told you what I thought you tell me why it is good.

Wow.

Shelly - thanks for starting this thread. I don't know if it was your intention, but you drew out a post that verified my thoughts on what a total pile of crap this hobby has turned into.

Every man for himself.

I normally do not take issue with your statements, but I do with this one.

Not following you Scott...what does the above mean???

Shelly, I don't know for sure if he ever had a period in time where he changed one way or another on the way he made his 5's, but I do know that he used two and they could have been interchangable. As far as seeing him sign in front of you 5000 times, that really doesn't mean anything since he would probably sign several hundred to a thousand at a show so we're only talking about a handfull of individual times. His signing habits could be slightly altered depending on the day...and he signed on a s**t load of days.
As for not wanting to touch this one, I would agree with you even though I think it's authentic. Unless you see it signed in front of you, it's never a slam dunk so why would anyone want one that makes you have any kind of doubt?

I am just makeing a point. If you see one think wrong ok two maybe three no way four or more not for me. I still have a wager that you can not find me another Mantle with that I on any item. He signed thousnads of pieces and I should have said at least 25,000 not five. Not one time did I ever see that and I am sure you can look till doomsday and never see that I again. I stand by what I said. I do agree if it where authentic I would not buy it.:)

I just don't see four plus things wrong with that signature. The y he signed many times like that and the a-n is a little long but I have seen that countless times too. I will agree though that the I is leaning a little back but one letter isn't enough to discredit the remainder of the good parts. I am just speaking of the autograph and not the inscription.

That's certainly your right - it's a discussion forum and it's just opinions.

No problem Scott. I respect your opinion likewise.

Thanks. Also, at this point I don't want to go back and re-state in detail what I meant in that previous post, but it wasn't as bad as some might have taken it. I was venting somewhat.